Motor grader attachment support and grader blade control



y 13, 1 J. A. SWANSON 2,834,126

MOTOR GRADER ATTACHMENT SUPPORT AND GRADER BLADE CONTROL Filed June 24. 1954 IN VEN TOR. JOHN A. SWANSO/V rronwsr 2,834,126 MOTOR GRADER ATTAtZHMENT SUPPORT AND GRADER BLADE CONTROL John A. Swanson, San Diego, Calif. Application June 24, 1954, Serial No. 439,074 6 Claims. (Ci. 37-143) My invention relates to motor grader attachment support and grader blade control, more particularly for attachment to the back side of the motor grader blade of conventional type, and the objects of my invention are:

First, to provide an attachment support of this class that may be readily secured on the back side of a grader blade at either end thereof.

Second, to provide an attachment of this class which is applicable for use with various attachments such as grader blade controls, rippers, drift wings, and the like.

Third, to provide an attachment support of this class which is easily and quickly secured to and removed from the motor grader blade.

Fourth, to provide an attachment support of this class that is particularly adapted for the tractor type of motor grader blade.

Fifth, to provide a novel grader blade control for use in connection with my attachement support for use in connection with motor grader blades.

Sixth, to provide a motor grader blade control of this class that automatically guides and holds the blade for grading relatively to the curbing and is controlled by said curbing for slightly raising and lowering the blade and for sidewise shifting and also for guiding the operator for major shifting the blade vertically and laterally.

Seventh, to provide an attachment support and grader blade control that is very simple and economical of construction, easy to install in connection with motor grader blades, easy to remove therefrom, efficient in its action, easily shifted to varying positions on the blade, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the characters of reference thereon which form a part of this application, in which:

Figure l is a top or plan view of my support and grader blade control shown in position on a fragmentary portion of a motor grader blade. Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view thereof with tie blade omitted. Fig. 3 is a similar View as to that of Fig. 2 at a right angle thereto and showing the blade in dash line, and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from a line 44 of Fig. 3.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts and portions throughout the several views of the drawings.

The support casing 1, channel casing support 2, grader blade control shaft 3, grader blade control lower support 4, grader blade control upper support 5, caster wheel shaft 6, caster wheel '7, and cleaner blade 8, con stitute the principal parts of my motor grader attachment support and grader blade control.

The support casing 1 is preferably hollow, rectangular in shape in cross-section as shown best in Fig. 4 of the drawin s, and is open at both its upper and lower ends. It is provided intermediate its ends on one side with a rectangular opening in in which is mounted a locking block 1b which is held in locking position by means of a bolt 1c, positioned in lugs 10., secured on the outer side of the member 1, all as shown best in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This support casing 1 is supported by means of the channel casing support 2 which is rigidly secured thereto, which channel casing support 2 is provided with forwardly extending portions 2a and flange portions 21),

2,834,125 P atented May 13, 1953 thus providing a channel portion which is arranged to fit over the extended longitudinal flanges on the back side of the conventional motor grader blade P so that this member 2 together with the member 1 may be shifted longitudinally along the back side of the grader blade to a position desired. For securing it in its particular position there are provided rectangular openings 2d in both the upper and lower sides of the member 2 intermediate its side edges, arranged to receive locking blocks conforming to the opening. These blocks are secured in position therein by means of bolts 2e secured in lugs 12 at the upper and lower sides of the member 2 as shown best in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. These locking blocks 2d are arranged to fit in the conforming slots F2 in the flange edges at the upper sides of the flanges on the conventional motor grader blade, thus securing the member 2 together with the member 1 from shifting longitudinally on the blade, it being noted that the flange on the blade is indicated by the reference character F in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The motor grader blade being indicated by the letter B in Pig. 3 of the drawings.

Mounted in this support casing 1 is the grader blade control shaft 3 which is rectangularly shaped in crosssection conforming withe the interior of the support casing 1 and it is secured in its relative position longitudinally with the casing member 1 by means of a notch in its side edge intermediate its ends in which the locking block lib is arranged to fit at its inner side, thus locking the member 3 against upward and downward movement. This member 3 is also provided with a pin 35 at its lower end, as shown best in Fig. 2 of the drawings on which one end of the grader blade control lower support 4 is supported. This grader blade control support 4 is also provided with a rectangular hole conforming with the member 3 at its lower end in which the memher 3 is mounted. This member 4 is provided at its opposite end with a supporting member 4a upon which the member 4 is clamped by means of a bolt 4b, which member 4a is provided with a roller 40 revolvably mounted on the member 4a at its lower end, which roller 40 is a arranged to engage the side of the curbing C while the caster roller 7 rolls on top of the curbing C. livotally mounted on the side of the caster member support do and extending forwardly therefrom is the cleaner blade 8 which is arranged to clean the surface of the curbing in front of the caster wheel 7 providing a smooth path for the caster wheel 7 on the top of the curbing. This cleane blade 3 is supported at its front side in a yieldable manner by means of a flat spring 8a which is supported in a reinforced manner on the caster shaft 6 by means of a collar 6b, as shown best in Fig. 2 of the drawings, thus permitting this cleaner blade 8 to move-upwardly and downwardly sliding over rough surfaces on the curbing, it being noted that the front end of this cleaner blade 8 is angular thus tending to move the dirt and other matter inwardly back of the grader blade. The grader blade control upper support 5 consists of a normally vertical portion 5a with a hole portion 512 through which the shaft 6 extends and at its lower side it is provided with a horizontal portion 50 which is slotted at 5d and provided with a bolt 52, thus providing a clamp for clamping onto the shaft 6 by means of a split sleeve 60. .Th' member 5 is provided at its opposite end from the shaft 6, with a rectangular opening conforming to the shaft 3 which extends upwardly into this member 50 and against the lower edge of the member 5a, and thus the member 5 is rigidly secured to the shaft 3 at its upper end.

The operation of my motor grader attachment support and grader blade control is substantially as follows:

The attachment support is secured to the back side of the grader blade by mounting the channel casing support 2 to the flange at the back side of the grader blade F, as shown best in Fig. 1 of the drawing, and this member 2,sa4,12e

3 F is provided with a notch F2 in both its upper and lower sides at both ends of the blade, the proper distance from the ends of the blade for receiving the lock blocks 2d, which are secured in position in the members 2 by means of the bolts 2e. The shaft 3 is then positioned in the member 1 by inserting it into the upper end of the member 1 and secured in position by means of the lock block 1b which are further held in position by means of the bolts 10. The member 4 is then positioned on the lower end of the member S'supported by the pin 3b, and the caster roller 7 is positioned on the top side of the curbing, the roller member 40 engaging the side edge thereof and with the forward movement of the motor grader, the motor grader blade B is raised and lowered slightly and shifted sidewise slightly relatively to the top and side edge of the curbing by means of the roller 7 and the roller member 40 in engagement with the curbing. However in case the road grade is at great variance to the curbing the operator watches the rollers 7 and 4c and manually shifts the blade to conform to the position of the curb, thus providing a grade in its proper relation with the curbing and holding the motor grader blade in its proper position. It will be further noted that by removing the grader blade control the motor grader attachment support may also be used for supporting rippers, draft wings, or the like, providing they have a shank properly shaped for inserting into the support casing 1 and notched for securement by means of the locked blocks. It is to be noted that it the attachment support is placed on the opposite end of the blade it is reversed in upside down position so that it may be used at either end of the blade.

Though I have shown and described in particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, combination and arrangement, but desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction, combination and arrangement, substantially asset forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a motor grader attachment adapted to support and control the scraper blade of said grader, the combination of an attachment support adapted to be removably and adjustably secured to the rear wall of the scraper blade, means for holding said attachment support in a horizontally adjusted position on said blade, a hollow upright member on said attachment support extending from the bottom to the top thereof, a shaft carried by said attachment support and slidably mounted in said upright member, means for holding said shaft in a fixed vertical position, a bracket carried by the upper end of said shaft, a caster wheel supported by said bracket adapted to engage a ground surface, and a roller supported by the lower end of said shaft adapted to engage a vertical reference surface.

2. In a motor grader attachment adapted to support and control the scraper blade of said grader, the combination of an attachment support adapted to be removably secured to the rear wall of the scraper blade adjacent one end, means for adjustably securing said attachment support in place, a hollow upright member on said attachment support terminating adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof, a shaft carried by said attachment support and slidably mounted in said hollow upright member, means for holding said shaft in a fixed vertical positon, a bracket arm on the upper end of said shaft, a caster Wheel supporting shaft depending from said bracket arm, a caster wheel swiveled on the lower end of said shaft and means for adjusting the caster wheel shaft relative to said bracket arm.

3. In a motor grader attachment adapted to support and control the scraper blade of a motor grader, a'supporting bracket plate having flanges on one wallat the top and bottom thereof to interlock with a correspondingly shaped flange on the scraper blade, means for holding said supporting bracket plate in a horizontally adjusted position, a hollow upright member on the other wall of said plate, a shaft mounted in said hollow upright member, lock means for holding said shaft in position against upward and downward movement, an arm on the lower end of said shaft having a roller on the end thereof with its axis parallel with the axis of said shaft, a bracket on the upper end of said shaft, and a caster Wheel supported by said bracket with its axis normal to the axis of said shaft.

4. in a motor grader attachment support and grader blade control in which said blade is provided with flanges on its rear wall, the combination of a bracket plate support adapted to be attached to the flanges on the rear wall of the grader scraper blade, a hollow upright support casing formed on said plate, a shaft slidably mounted in said hollow support casing, means for locking said shaft in proper position against upward and downward movement, an arm on the lower end of said shaft, a roller on said arm adapted to engage a vertical work surface, a bracket on the upper end of said arm, a caster wheel supporting shaft mounted in said bracket, a caster wheel swiveled on the lower end of said shaft and a cleaner blade arranged to clean the surface in advance of said caster wheel and supported on said caster wheel supporting shaft.

5. In a motor grader attachment for a scraper blade having opposed flanges on its rear wall, the combination of an attachment supporting plate having flanges at the top and bottom adapted to interlock with the flanges on said scraper blade and permit said support plate to be adjusted longitudinally thereon, means for locking said support plate to one of said flanges on the scraper blade, a hollow support casing on said support plate extending from the lower to the upper end thereof, a shaft slidably mounted in said hollow support casing, an arm on the lower end of said shaft, a roller on said arm adapted to engage avertical work surface, a bracket on the upper end of said shaft adapted to support a caster roller engageable with a horizontal work surface, and means for locking the shaft in position within said hollow support casing so that the above-mentioned rollers will be held against upward and downward movement simultaneously.

6. In a motor grader attachment for a scraper blade having opposed horizontally extending flanges on the rear thereof, the combination of a bracket plate having opposed flanges adapted to interlock with the flanges on said scraper blade to permit said plate to be horizontally moved to various positions, means for locking said plate to one of said flanges on the scraper blade, a tubular support casing formed on said bracket plate and extending from the bottom to the top thereof, a shaft mounted in said tubular'support casing, an arm on the lower end of said shaft, a roller on the free end of said arm adapted to engage a vertical work surface, a bracket arm on the upper end of said shaft, a caster supporting shaft secured to said bracket arm, a caster frame swiveled on said caster supporting shaft, a caster roller mounted on 'said caster wheel supporting frame and a cleaner blade to clean the surface in advance of said caster wheel and supported by said caster wheel frame, said cleaner blade being rockably mounted to permit the for ward portion to be raised and lowered as it travels along the surface of a curbing or the like.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,849,754 Darrow Mar. 15, 1932 2,510,523 Schiavi June 6, 1950 2,566,641 Snead Sept. 4, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 633,659 Great Britain Dec. 19, 1949 

